WINDMILL COUNTRY: Texas corn growers persevere amid drought

SAN ANGELO, Texas - A few days ago on a short drive out on Lipan Flats, east of San Angelo, I spotted a tractor as the farmer was finishing out corn planting.

Corn planting usually runs from late February through March in this region, but it is running a little behind schedule this year.

Corn is planted when the soil is warm enough to germinate the seeds, but not so early that the young plants are likely to be damaged by frost.

With so many diverse climates across the Lone Star State, planting dates vary by location, beginning as early as mid-February or as late as mid-June.

The first corn to be planted in Texas is usually in February on the Upper Gulf Coast, March in South Texas and February to mid-March in Central Texas. Texas Panhandle farmers plant corn from mid-April to mid-May.

The Northern High Plains accounts for almost two-thirds of the total Texas corn production.

Farmers in Central Texas around Waco are in second place for corn production. In normal times, Texas farmers harvest nearly 2 million acres annually.

Depending on conditions, about 22,000-25,000 individual corn plants are grown on an acre. One acre of corn is the size of a football field.

In spring 2011, farmers across the nation planted 1.5 million acres of corn, the second most since World War II.

But weather factors ranging from too much rain in the Midwest to not enough in the Southwest, coupled with high temperatures of 100-plus degrees, hammered the crop.

On a trip to Nashville in late July 2011, I witnessed fields of corn baked from the heat in Northeast Texas and shorter but green stalks with maturing ears in Arkansas.

In normal years, Concho Valley farmers plant 3,000-4,000 acres in corn. However, corn acreage in recent years has decreased because of drought and is reserved for irrigated fields at around 1,000-1,200 acres.

Even though most of Tom Green County's cornfields are concentrated around Veribest, 12 miles east of San Angelo, other farms growing corn stretch south to Wall and east to Eola in Concho County.

"Only 300 to 500 corn acres were harvested for grain in past years," said Steve Sturtz, Tom Green County agriculture agent. "All the rest of it was cut for silage and sold to area dairies. The silage ranged between 9 and 23 tons per acre."

Conversation in the coffee nook at Wall Co-Op Gin on Thursday focused on guesses for the next rain. There were no bets as eyes turned to the meteorologist on the television mounted above the coffee maker for the latest update.

Daryl Schniers, who farms with his twin brother Doyle, said there isn't enough subsoil moisture to chance planting sorghum without a rain.

Even with rainfall, the farmers' grain sorghum yield of 6,000 pounds doesn't allow enough profit in comparison to what can be made on corn, Sturtz said.

"I think we will double the corn acreage this year," Sturtz told me. "Also, the inputs of cotton have got so high that farmers can plant corn cheaper. With irrigation water holding out, plus the local dairies are demanding more silage, there just seems to be more opportunities for corn."

Sturtz predicts farmers will plant from 2,000-3,000 corn acres in the Concho Valley this season.

"There is just so many ways one can go with corn. If it gets dry and the farmers can't hold out for grain production, there is the silage route," he said. "And last year several farmers harvested the corn and turned around and baled the stalks. It is a much diversified crop."

According to the Texas Corn Producers Board, the value of the Texas corn crop is about $600 million annually.

Jerry Lackey writes about agriculture. Contact him at jlackey@wcc.net or 325-949-2291.